Current LAL Awards

The 2024 Letters About Literature awards were celebrated at the Massachusetts State House on May 21, 2024. Representative Lindsay Sabadosa (First Hampshire) gave the legislative welcome. New York Times-bestselling middle grade author Lynda Mullaly Hunt provided congratulatory remarks.

View images from this year’s ceremony

Level I (Grades 4 through 6)

First Place:
Lyla Han, Grade 6, Brimmer and May School, Newton, wrote to Soman Chainani about The Last Ever After

Second Place:
Raseel Abujrida, Grade 6, Al-Hamra Academy, Shrewsbury, wrote to Hena Khan about Amina's Voice

Third Place:
Alexandra Nassuuna, Grade 4, Lexington Montessori School, Lexington, wrote to Claribel A. Ortega about Frizzy

Honorable Mentions:
Hanna Sylvia Bacon, Lander Grinspoon Academy, Northampton
Roger Gu, Hopkinton Middle School, Hopkinton
Polina Kuznetsov-Kaufman, Star Academy, Wellesley
Lillian Lubin, Lexington Montessori School, Lexington
Ryan Moran, A. W. Coolidge Middle School, Reading
Amy Ren, A. W. Coolidge Middle School, Reading
Aliya Sadozai, Al-Hamra Academy, Shrewsbury

Level II (Grades 7 and 8)

First Place:
Ava Dufresne, Grade 7, Sarah W. Gibbons Middle School, Westborough, wrote to Ann Braden about Flight of the Puffin

Second Place:
Ian Stratton, Grade 7, Wilbraham Middle School, Wilbraham, wrote to Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed about When Stars Are Scattered

Third Place:
Omar Ahmed, Grade 7, Al-Hamra Academy, Shrewsbury, wrote to Jason Reynolds about All-American Boys

Honorable Mentions:
Catherine Cole, Marblehead Veterans School, Marblehead
Lottie Homer, Sarah W. Gibbons Middle School, Westborough
Alexandra Levinson, Star Academy, Wellesley
Amelia Lo Proto, Michael Driscoll School, Brookline
Molly Papazian, Newton Country Day School, Newton Noah Vanden Heuvel, Marblehead Veterans School, Marblehead
Dia Vazirani, Michael Driscoll School, Brookline

Level III (Grades 9 through 12)

First Place:
Lara Cratty, Grade 9, Montrose School, Lincoln / Medfield, wrote to Charlotte Bronte about Jane Eyre

Second Place:
Rachel Dunn, Grade 11, Montrose School, Ashland / Medfield, wrote to Mitch Albom about The Five People You Meet in Heaven

Third Place:
Kate Stillman Cassidy, Grade 11, Hamilton-Wenham Regional High School, Hamilton/Wenham, wrote to Paul Harding about Enon

Honorable Mentions:
Amelia Dmytruk, Brimmer and May School, Newton
Eliza Glaeser, Montrose School, Medfield
Sarah Lyn Groves, Monomoy Regional High School, Harwich
Jordan J. Kirkland, Norwood High School, Norwood
Dvalin E. R. O'Mahoney, Rising Tide Public Charter School, Plymouth

Commonwealth Judges in the 2024 Program

Betsy Groban, a journalist and author; Josh Funk, a longlisted Massachusetts Book Award author; and Alicia Rogers, the Tween Services Librarian at Worcester Public Library. Screeners from Simmons University, University of Massachusetts Amherst, and Smith College assisted in the program as well.